


Starting Over

by welpcalledit



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: F/M, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Running Away, allison and stiles are best friends, allison hates her family, kate argent kills laura, stiles is an orphan
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-03-17
Updated: 2014-06-16
Packaged: 2018-01-16 03:28:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,618
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1330192
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/welpcalledit/pseuds/welpcalledit
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Allison discovers the truth about her family and sees her aunt kill Laura Hale right in front of her, she decides she has to get away from them. After getting in touch with Derek Hale as per Laura's last wishes, Allison decides running away to California from upstate New York might just be far enough, so she tells her parents she's going to visit her best friend, the orphaned Stiles Smith, and then the duo catch a flight across the country to show up on Derek's front porch. Now that they've arrived though, Allison isn't sure how he will react to having someone related to the person who murdered his family staying in his house. Other things concerning her are keeping her family off her trail, talking to the cute boy who works at Hale Books, the weird resemblance between Stiles and the Sheriff of Beacon Hills, and the sudden and intense chemistry between her best friend and Derek.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

        Allison’s family was fucking insane. She was sixteen and her mother had just told her that she is the heir to the throne of a family of werewolf hunters. All Allison had asked was why they had to move AGAIN and her mom had stoically said ‘it’s time you knew’ which was already an extremely ominous sentence, and then, to get the ridiculous explanation she did, Allison, in addition to being slightly concerned about her parents’ mentally health, was also pissed. She didn’t need some bullshit lie, she just wanted the truth, so she did the only thing she could think of; she called her aunt Kate. What she really didn’t expect was for her aunt to show up at her house excitedly saying ‘ they finally told you,’ and welcoming her to the family business. When Kate told her she had a present for her and then took Allison to an empty warehouse on the edge of her town in upstate New York, she was genuinely shocked to see a woman chained to the floor, her eyes flashing red and huge claws growing out of her hands as electricity ran through her body. Kate was smiling at the sight gleefully but Allison was absolutely repulsed.

            “Now don’t tell your dad about this one, sweetie, because technically I wasn’t supposed to go after her, but how could I resist. I mean, I had intended for Derek to survive that fire. His bitchy older sister, not so much. Then the other day I was taking the train here from the city and I saw none other than little Laura Hale, all grown up now.” Kate was circling the woman chained to the floor and Allison felt caught between trying to understand what her aunt was saying and fighting the urge to vomit.

            “Mom says we only hurt those who hurt others, though,” she says, trying to understand.

            “Well your mom’s family is a little bit different from ours. Your grandpa taught me that it’s only a matter of time before one of these mongrels hurts someone so its better to take care of them all whenever you come across one. But because your aunt is so awesome, I once managed to get rid of eight at once.” Kate smiles, and yep, Allison was definitely going to vomit. “Anyway, I decided to give you a moment alone with the beast so you can ask her any questions about wolves that your little heart desires and then I’ll teach you the fun part, learning all of the spots that hurt the most,” As Kate spoke, she kicked the woman hard in the stomach and a purely animalistic whine of pain broke out. Allison fought her initial reaction of pushing her aunt away from the woman. She knew any signs of weakness right now would not help her and Allison knew she had to somehow help this woman. If Kate had even the slightest idea of what Allison was thinking there was no way she’d leave her alone with the she-wolf, so she put on a brave face, tossed her hair over her shoulder, and looked Kate directly in the eyes, trying to project a confidence she wasn’t feeling.

            “Fine, give me a few minutes alone with her and then we can get started.” Kate darted over and hugged her.

            “Your parents always said you wouldn’t be able to handle this but I knew they were wrong! You and I are going to be an awesome team sweetie!” With that, her aunt tossed one more disparaging look at the woman on the ground and then flounced out of the building. As soon as she was gone, Allison rushed over to the woman, stopping herself at the last minute from touching her. She racked her brain for a minute before remembering what Kate had called her.

            “Laura,” she whispered. The woman barely moved. “Laura, I want to get you out but I don’t know how.” Laura was still unresponsive and Allison felt tears trickle down her face. “Laura please wake up. You have to tell me what to do,” she cried. Finally, Laura looked at her, eyes still glowing red. She seemed to be measuring Allison’s worth with her eyes, and with a nod she started to speak in a quietly pained voice.

            “It’s too late, too much wolfsbane in my system. I need you to call my brother. He’s Derek Hale, he’s in Beacon Hills, California. You have to call him for me, okay. You have to talk to him right away so he doesn’t try to come here. Tell him,” Laura paused, letting out another whine of pain. “Tell him Lulu says mom was right, whether gold, blue or red, his eyes are different, but still beautiful, just like him.” Allison was still crying silently, very aware that she was hearing this woman’s last words. “When Kate comes back I’m going to do something, okay, don’t be scared. I just. This has to be on my terms, at least a little.” With that, Allison nodded as Laura slumped back to the ground. Allison wiped her eyes and looked at her phone, noticing only about three minutes had passed. She pulled her strong mask back onto her face and tried desperately to look unaffected, despite how much she wanted to scream and cry inside. Then she raised her voice.

            “Filthy animal! Just wait until my aunt gets back!” Laura met her eyes one more time and nodded just a little to show she understood what Allison was doing, and Allison had to bite her lip to avoid the sob building in her throat. Just then Kate sauntered back in.

            “You okay, sweetie?” Allison started to nod but before she could step away from Laura, the she-wolf was gathering the last vestiges of her strength and launching herself at Allison. Quicker than Allison would’ve thought possible, Kate pulled out a gun and shot the woman in the head. Allison caught one glimpse of her lifeless body and allowed herself to wail, tears streaming down her face. Kate was instantly by her side.

            “Shh, it’s okay sweetie, I wouldn’t have let that monster hurt you,” she cooed at Allison, mistaking her tears of grief for ones of fear. Allison wasn’t going to correct her. Despite how much it made her sin crawl, she let her aunt throw an arm around her shoulder as she led her back to the car. “Don’t worry, I’ll clean up the mess in there. I know it’s been a long day for you.” Kate drove them back to Allison’s house and gave her a one armed hug over the center divider before Allison climbed out of the car, nodding in understanding as Allison told her she needed a day to process everything. She hurried into the house and slipped into her room, locking the door behind her.

            Allison was dying to collapse onto her bed, absolutely exhausted from the emotions she had been feeling all day, but she forced that down and went to her computer instead. She typed ‘Derek and Laura Hale Beacon Hills California’ into the google search bar and clicked on the first link.

            “EIGHT DIE IN HALE MANSION FIRE, ONE ADULT IN HOSPITAL, TWO TEENS SURVIVE” the headline screamed at her. Allison gasped sharply and scanned the rest of the article. Talia and Daniel Hale, their three youngest children, Adam, Matthew and Cora, Talia’s sister in law, Sarah, and her two children, Elise and Jillian, were all trapped inside the house at the time of the fire that was quickly blamed on an electrical problem. Talia’s brother, Sarah’s husband, Peter Hale was severely burned and then slipped into a catatonic state. Talia and Daniel’s two oldest children survived; Derek was at basketball practice at the time of the fire and Laura was at the grocery store. As Allison continued to read the article she learned that Talia and Daniel owned the nature preserve just outside of town and mostly kept to themselves. Talia was a corporate lawyer who worked in San Francisco and Daniel was a freelance journalist who worked from home where he stayed with his two youngest children, Matt and Cora, four year old twins. Peter Hale was a partner at Talia’s law firm and his wife owned an all-natural fashion boutique in Berkley.

As Allison read about the Hale family and their young children and then remembered that her aunt Kate had bragged to her about killing them she could no longer repress her gag reflex and launched out of her chair and into the bathroom, puking into the toilet. She leaned her head against the cool porcelain of the bathtub and curled her legs under her.

“Allison, are you okay, sweetheart,” her dad asked from where he had stopped in the doorway. Looking at him, Allison couldn’t help but wonder if he was just as responsible for the death of the Hale family as her aunt and if he was responsible for even more deaths than that. Allison stood up and flushed the toilet, washing her hands and swishing some mouthwash around before splashing cold water on her face. Her father was still looking at her with concern but when he reached out to touch her shoulder, Allison’s blood ran cold. She pushed past him and walked back to her room, but he followed her through the door. “What’s wrong, Allie?”

“You’re what’s wrong!” Allison felt absolute fury settle into her bones and for the first time in her life when she looked at her father all she felt was burning hatred. “You and this damned family are what’s wrong! You think this is okay? Hunting people? Because whether they’re werewolves or not they’re still people, and you don’t have the right to decide just because they might hurt someone one day that they should die. Guess what, everyone on the fucking planet might hurt someone one day, that doesn’t make genocide okay. I am so disgusted by you! How many people have you killed? How many families just like the Hales have you destroyed? How many children did you murder or steal parents from?” Allison was screaming, tears continuing to pour down her face. When Chris stepped toward her she recoiled and his face looked absolutely crushed. He opened his mouth to defend himself but Allison interrupted him before he could speak. “There is no justification for what you’ve done and I don’t think I can ever forgive you for this. Please leave,” she said softly. Chris opened his mouth once more before audibly snapping it shut and walking out the door, closing it on his way out.

Once her father left, Allison went back to her computer and searched Derek Hale’s name again, eventually finding a website for a bookstore he owned in Beacon Hills. The site proclaimed that in honor of its one year anniversary, there was going to be a party at the store with food, drinks, and everything on sale for 20% off. Allison found the phone number for the shop and pulled out her phone to make the call.

“Hale Books, this is Scott, how can I help you,” a bored voice answered.

“Hello, my name is Allison, is Derek in?”

“No, he booked it out of here about an hour ago looking pretty freaked out. Can I take a message?”

“No, I’m afraid this is a personal matter concerning his sister, Laura. It’s extremely important that I speak to him immediately. Can you give me his personal number?” Allison was crossing her fingers that the boy on the other end of the line would give in.

“I’m not really supposed to. In fact, he’s probably gonna get pissed at me for this, but I know Laura is all he has left so I guess its more important.” Allison had to bite her lip to stop herself from crying and tried to pay attention as Scott rattled off the phone number. She hung up with him and dialed it immediately.

“Laur! Is that you?! What the hell is going on,” Derek sounded wrecked over the phone.

“Hello, is this Derek Hale? My name is Allison.”

“Oh, sorry, I saw the New York area code and thought you were my sister.” Allison was crying again.

“I-no. But Laura is the reason I’m calling.” Allison heard his sharp inhale over the line. She cried harder. “She said you can’t come here. She said to stay in California so Kate doesn’t- Laura, she, she died. I'm sorry! I saw her die and I tried to help her I swear I tried but she said there was too much wolfsbane and then Kate and I’m only sixteen, I didn’t know what to do! I'm so so sorry!” Allison was sobbing into the phone as she tried to explain herself to Derek and she heard him crying brokenly as well. Allison fought to get control over herself. “She said, she told me to say, ‘Lulu says mom was right, whether gold, blue or red, his eyes are different, but still beautiful, just like him.’ She told me to tell you that.” Allison stayed quiet, just listening to Derek cry. Eventually he seemed to calm down enough to speak.

“Who are you? I know all of Laura’s friends and she doesn’t know anyone named Allison. How did you know my sister? Why were you there when she died? How do you know about- about Kate?” Derek barely managed to choke out Kate’s name.

“It’s hard to explain. I-“ Just then Allison had an idea. “If I come there to Beacon Hills, will you wait for me to explain so I can do it in person? Please, I don’t think I can do this over the phone.”

“How soon can you be here?”

“Give me two days. I’ll leave tonight and drive straight there. I’ll call you when I get to Beacon Hills.”

“Okay. Thank you for calling me, Allison. I don’t know how you knew my sister but she must have trusted you a lot. She wouldn’t have told you to call me otherwise. I'm glad she had someone she trusted there, at the end.” Allison’s tears had started to slow, but with Derek’s heartfelt words they started up again.

“I’ll see you in a few days, okay? Bye Derek.” Allison hung up before he could respond and immediately went into action. She packed a week’s worth of clothes into a duffle bag along with her laptop and the folder in her closet with all of her important documents. She didn’t know when she would be back, maybe never, so she was going to take all of the important things with her now. At the last minute, she grabbed two of the pictures on her dresser. One was of her with her parents and as angry as she was, she knew she would be sad if she didn’t take at least one reminder of them with her. The other picture was of her with her best friend. She hadn’t seen him in about a year and she missed him like crazy. In fact, she was driving to Beacon Hills, so this might be a chance for her to see him. He might even want to come with her, and she was going to meet Derek Hale, alone, so having a big strong man with her would probably be a good idea. Alright, so he was 5’10 and 143 pounds, not exactly big and strong, but still, he was better than going alone. Allison carefully tossed the duffle bag out of her window and grabbed her keys and phone. She pulled on her coat and with one last glance at her room, she turned the light off and closed the door behind her. Allison found her parents sitting in the kitchen and noticed how they both went silent as she entered the room.

“I need some time. This is a lot for me to take in and all I know is that if I stay here I’ll only resent you more. I’m going to drive to Pittsburgh. I don’t know how long I’m going to be there but at least a week. I need you to let me go, okay?” Her mother looked like she wanted to protest but Allison had seen the understanding in her dad’s eyes when she had said Pittsburgh so he just placed his hand on top of her mom’s and nodded.

“Okay, we understand. Just please don’t stay gone too long. And tell Stiles that we said hello.” Allison thought about hugging them goodbye but the thought of either of them touching her, knowing they had used the same hands that comforted her all her life to kill people, turned her stomach so she just mumbled goodbye and walked out of the house. She grabbed her duffle off the lawn and tossed it into her car. As she slid into the drivers seat, she pulled up Stiles’ address from her list of favorites on her GPS and synced her phone up to her car. Her first stop was a gas station to fill up her tank and once she was there she called Stiles.

“Well hello there, my hetero heroine! It’s been a whole 23 hours since I last heard from you, I was starting to get worried!” Allison could hear the smile in Stiles’ voice and she felt better for the first time since she had first talked to her mom the day before.

“Two things. One: stop quoting Nick and Norah. You are not Dev and I am not Norah. We both know I’m not into band boys and your singing voice is shit. Two: how do you feel about a visit sometime soon?”

“OH MY GOD ALLISON IF YOU ARE LYING TO ME RIGHT NOW I WILL CHOKE YOU OUT I SWEAR TO GOD. Seriously you’re coming to see me?! Are you and your parents coming down? When are you going to be here? I have to tell Sharon so she won’t bitch at me for not being around the house when you’re here. When are you coming?” Stiles was screeching at her, his voice brimming with excitement.

“Uhm, it’s just going to be me. I had a big fight with my parents and told them I needed to get away for a while so I was going to go to Pittsburgh and my dad said it was okay. I’ll be there as fast as I can drive, so probably about three hours. My dad texted me after I left and said he got me a hotel room at the Fairmont so I wouldn’t be a bother to Sharon. He paid it up for a week so you can stay there with me if you want?” Allison knew there was no point in even asking. Stiles hated his foster mom so any opportunity to get away from her he seized.

“Damn, the Fairmont? He must have really fucked up bad to be buying your love like that. Of course I want to stay with you! Do you want to pick me up or do you want me to just meet you at the hotel?” Stiles’ tone was playful but Allison could hear the underlying worry. She had always been close to her dad, so for him to mess up bad enough that Allison wanted to get away from him and that he gave her permission to not only drive to Pittsburgh but paid for her to stay in a room that cost about $300 a night, Stiles knew that something seriously bad had gone down between them.

“If you could meet me there that would be perfect. And, Stiles, this is going to sound really insane but you should probably bring anything important with you. And as many clothes as you can. I promise I’ll explain when I see you.” To his credit, Stiles didn’t even question Allison. He just said he’d bring it all with him and see her at the Fairmont in three hours. They said goodbye and Allison pulled out of the gas station and onto the freeway, focusing on the drive instead of the fact that she had just run away from home, lied to her parents, and didn’t know if or when she would ever see them again.

Three hours later, Allison was grabbing her duffle bag out of the back seat while a valet driver patiently waited and then drove her car to the parking lot. She walked into the hotel and saw Stiles looking extremely out of place in is baggy jeans, graphic tee, and plaid over shirt while men and women in expensive suits and dresses looked at him disdainfully. Allison was indignant on his behalf but Stiles didn’t even seem to notice the glares directed at him. His face was split in a blinding smile as he rushed over to hug her. His long arms erased the memory of Kate’s and she sank into the comfort he offered her, the tension in her shoulders finally falling away. He didn’t say a word, just held her until she straightened up and then followed her to the check in desk. Allison handed over her ID and told the woman behind the counter that her father had booked the room for her. The woman’s cold demeanor changed when she saw that Allison was booked for a week in a pricey suite and noticed the no limit note attached to the credit card on file. She smiled brightly and had a bellman come over to take Allison and Stiles’ bags and show them up to the suite.

When they entered the room, Stiles whistled in appreciation and dropped his bag on the couch in the room, kicking his shoes off next to it. Allison put her bag next to his and shrugged out of her jacket and shoes as well. She didn’t say anything, just walked into the bedroom and collapsed onto the fresh sheets. Stiles followed her and wrapped his arms around her while she cuddled into his chest. She didn’t even notice she was crying again until she saw the moisture soaking his shirt. The toll the last two days had taken on her finally caught up with her and she dropped into a deep, dreamless sleep. The next thing she knew, it was 11 am and Stiles was snoring in her ear from where he was spooned up behind her. She elbowed him and he woke with a grunt.

“I forgot how loud you snore,” she teased him.

“Ugh, whatever. Isn’t it a good thing I’m gay so we can do this? Think how awkward this would be if I was straight and just pretending to be gay so I could get close to you like that total creep Matt Dahler.”

“Stiles, Matt was pretending to be straight so he could get close to you, not the other way around.”

“Jesus, don’t remind me. So weird.” Allison just laughed at his scandalized tone. He laughed with her for a moment before stopping abruptly and scooting back, tugging her shoulder so she would turn to look at him. “Seriously, Allie, what’s going on?” His tone was serious and while she knew he had been willing to comfort her without questions the night before, it was time to tell him what she was up to.

“I found some things out about my parents and I don’t think I can be around them anymore. Maybe never again. I told them I was coming here for a week but really I’m going to California. I know I sound absolutely insane but I just had to get away and I know someone in California. Well, I don’t know him, know him, but I kind of knew his sister and I needed to talk to him about her in person so I was going there anyway. Then I sort of decided if I was going there I might as well just stay, you know?”

“Fucking hell, Allison, what’d they do, kill someone?” Stiles’ tone was light but at Allison’s stricken expression it filled with quiet horror. “You’re not serious?!” Allison nodded somberly.

“Not just them, my aunt too. She- she killed a woman right in front of me. I can’t go back there, Stiles. I’m going to California, and I was- I wanted to ask if-“

“Oh I know you did not think you were going to run away to California and leave me here with fucking Sharon. I am so coming with you!” Allison smiled, glad that he took the pressure of asking him to leave behind his life to go with her by insisting on it himself.

“I wanna leave today. I was originally going to drive but it’ll take too long and I don’t want my dad to be able to trace the car. I was going to go to the bank and pull all of my money out of savings. It’s not a lot. Maybe about $3,000 just saved from winning that archery tournament. Most of my money is in a college account I can’t access.” Allison felt a little lighter after finally speaking her plan out loud and she relaxed a little more.

“I have a couple hundred saved up from working. I can’t spend it on anything because Sharon would notice and then I’d have to tell her I was working and then she’d insist on me giving her some of my money and yeah, that’s not gonna happen… Relax for a little longer and then we’ll go, okay?” Allison nodded, sinking into the bed a little more while Stiles got up and went to take a shower. When he finished she got up and got ready. When she was done, they headed out of the hotel and walked to the bank a few blocks over. They each went to separate counters, withdrew their money, and walked back to the hotel. Allison ordered room service while Stiles looked up flights to SFO.

“It looks like we can get one way tickets for a little under $300. We’re going to have to hire a car service to get to Beacon Hills and then find somewhere to stay. Most places won’t rent a hotel room to anyone under 21 without a major credit card but if we find somewhere cheap willing to take cash they’ll probably let me rent a room. I mean I’ll be 18 in a month anyway so if they don’t look at my ID too closely I think we’ll be okay.” As Stiles was talking, Allison was surprised to see her phone ringing and that it was Derek Hale calling. She put her finger to her lips to silence Stiles and then answered, putting the phone on speaker.

“Hi, um, Allison? I was just wondering if you were still coming out here?”

“I was planning on it, yeah. If it’s still okay for me to come out and talk to you?”

“Yeah of course. I just wanted to make sure.”

“Oh, okay. Well yeah I’m still planning on coming, and a friend of mine is coming with me. We were just looking for places to stay while we’re there. We’re flying into SFO on a red eye tonight.”

“Why don’t you just stay with me? Laura insisted on rebuilding the house but its just me and my uncle Peter living here now that she’s- anyway, we have a lot of extra rooms if you’d like to stay here.” Allison looked over at Stiles who was nodding eagerly.

“Sure, okay. Our flight lands at 9am and then we’ll take a car to your house I guess?”

“Okay, I’ll see you then.”

“Okay, see you.” Allison put her phone down as soon as she heard Derek disconnect. She looked over at Stiles. “At least now we don’t need to worry about a place to stay. Stiles smirked and then packed the few things he had taken out of his bag while Allison did the same. She decided to leave her car in the hotel and put the do not disturb sign on the door. With any luck, her parents wouldn’t realize she wasn’t in Pittsburgh until the end of the week.  Allison and Stiles took a cab to the airport, bought their tickets, and made their way to the terminal. They sat around for an hour and then boarded the plane and settled into their seats. Allison fell asleep almost immediately and when she woke up it was 8am and they would be landing soon. She looked over at Stiles to see his wallet sitting open and a worn out photo grasped in his hand.

“You know, I always wanted to go to California. I think that’s where she was from.” Allison leaned her head against his shoulder and looked down at the picture she had seen a hundred times before of a beautiful woman leaning against a blue jeep in front of a forest of tall trees. “I once looked up the type of trees she’s standing in front of. They’re called redwoods. There’s an entire forest of them in Northern California. Can we go there, Allie?” Allison heard the grief in her friend’s tone and wrapped her arms around him.

“Of course we can. We can go anywhere you want, Stiles.” An hour later, the photo was safely tucked away and the plane was descending. Once it landed, the pair disembarked and made their way to the section of the airport offering cab and rental car services. They hired a car to drive them to the address Derek had texted Allison and as they drove down a driveway with trees bordering each side of the road, Allison noticed a young man with three day old stubble and jet black hair come out onto the porch. She and Stiles climbed out of the car when it came to a stop, grabbed their duffles out of the trunk, and watched it speed off down the driveway as soon as the trunk was slammed closed. Then she and Stiles were left standing in front of the intimidating form that was Derek Hale.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just want you guys to know this chapter has been done for about three weeks and it was just sitting in my docs bc every time I tried to post it AO3 would give me an error message.  
> So anyway, here we are, chapter two. I posted chapter 1 the day before the finale and then the finale happened and Allison, and I am still not over it because I love her so much! Just so ya'll know in case it wasn't already obvious, this is a canon divergent AU. Also when I'm not feeling lazy and don't have to head into work for a 10hr shift in 20minutes I'll get around to updating the tags.  
> As Always ConCrit is love and Comments and Kudos are the warm fuzzies I eat for breakfast-FEEED MEEE  
> OHYEAH TRIGGER WARNING FOR VIOLENCE: there's a teensy weensy bit of violence in this chapter, it's not very graphic at all but still, feel free to check out the end notes for a description of what happens.  
> BTW I'll try to remember to include trigger warnings at the beginning of each chapter, as a person on tumblr suggested after reading ch.1. If the violence in ch.1 between Kate and Laura was in any way offensive or triggering for you I truly apologize.

            Derek carefully took in the two teens standing in front of his house. The boy was clearly a few years older than the girl, and despite how scrawny he looked, he stood in front of the girl protectively. The girl was short and slim with thick brown hair and a kind face, but something about it was familiar. She took a few steps forward until she was standing on the bottom step and as soon as Derek took a breath he understood why he’d recognized her.

She reeked of Kate Argent, but deeper than if she had just been in close contact, more like they had the same blood- instantly Derek was plunged into a memory of Kate telling him she wouldn’t be around one weekend because she had to go to her niece, Allison’s birthday. Derek launched himself down the steps, hair sprouting on his face, fangs and claws elongating as he grasped the girl around the neck, lifting her so her toes barely scuffed the wood beneath her. The boy whom she had arrived with was clearly terrified but he didn’t hesitate from rushing to her side and repeatedly hitting Derek’s arm, begging him to let her go. When Derek took a deep breath to growl at the boy and caught his scent it felt like the world had stopped.

Derek’s wolf was howling at him to get closer to the scent, furiously pacing the confines of Derek’s body looking for any opportunity to break free and just claim. _Mate, mate, mate, mate._ The word repeated in Derek’s head like a mantra. He dropped the girl and didn’t even notice as she fell to the ground, far too preoccupied with burying his face in the boy’s neck and breathing in the intoxicating scent. It calmed his wolf and after a moment his head cleared enough for him to pay attention to what the boy was saying, though not enough to step away from him or remove his arms from the vice-like grip he had on him.

“Hey Allie, next time you tell me we should pack up and move across the country to meet some guy, how about you mention his lycanthropic tendencies beforehand!” The boy was trembling, and when Derek calmed a little more he was able to parse the different emotions coming off of the boy, most heavily the stinging scent of fear. His wolf yowled miserably when he realized his mate was scared of him, and Derek instantly let go and moved a few feet away, dejected. At some point his wolf-like features had receded, leaving him completely human in appearance.

            “Aww, come on dude, what’s with the face? You look like I just ran over your puppy. Not that I care, I mean you did just basically try to crush my best friend’s windpipe, which is very not cool. Look at her, she’s bleeding. Seriously man that is messed up. What was that attack for anyway? She didn’t do anything to you. And speaking of weird unprovoked shit, what the fuck was with the neck sniffing? I mean that was freaky dude, but also kind of nice? You’re really warm- he’s really warm okay Allie don’t look at me like I'm the one with two heads when he had claws and fangs about five seconds ago!”

Derek was starting to get a serious headache from the incessant chatter. He wanted to snap at the boy to shut up but a voice in his head that sounded suspiciously like Laura piped up with _this is your mate, so keep your mouth shut and do not fuck this up, okay._ The thought of Laura was finally enough for him to get his head together. He leveled his best scowl at Allison, who was brushing dirt off of her scraped knees. He was almost shocked into silence when she very briefly met his eyes before looking down and tilting her head to bare her neck to him. It was a deliberate sign of submission and Derek gave a slight nod to her in acknowledgement. He was looking at the boy again and saw the moment Allison’s action clicked into understanding for him. Yet when Derek met his eye, the boy did not look away like Allison, instead he held his gaze with a defiant glint. Derek’s wolf bristled a little, but he was a little impressed with his mate, who clearly understood what was happening but was strong and unwilling to submit so easily.

            “You, Allison, have a lot of explaining to do,” Derek grunted, looking back at the girl. She nodded and then reached down to collect her bag while the boy did the same. Derek led the two into the house and they all sat down in the living room. Allison opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted by the boy. Derek was starting to get used to this.

            “First of all, why did you attack her?”

            “She smelled…” Derek couldn’t believe he was trying to explain himself instead of employing his usual grunt to avoid speaking tactic.

            “Really? She smelled? Dude, a little BO is not a good enough reason-“

            “I wasn’t done! I was trying to say she smells like the woman who burnt my family alive!” Derek’s statement had silenced the boy…

            “Well that’s some heavy shit right there.” …or maybe not. “It’s good to know that your sense of smell really is as heightened as the lore says it is. Oh hey, why were you going sniff crazy with my neck then?”

            “I think that’s a conversation you and I should have later. As well as the conversation about how well you’re taking to the newfound knowledge that werewolves are real and the conversation about how you’ve been reading werewolf lore. First, I would be very interested in hearing what Allison has to say to placate me and my wolf before I tear her limb from limb.”

            “I- Yes I think that’s a good idea. Allie, take it away,” with that Stiles sat next to Derek and looked expectantly at his friend.

            “My aunt is Kate Argent. I didn’t know my family hunted werewolves until about four days ago when I asked my parents why we moved around so much and they finally told me the truth. I was angry and thought it was a joke so I called my aunt because she and I have always been more like sisters and the next day she was on my doorstep and she was really excited my parents had told me the truth and she took me to this warehouse on the edge of town. She said she had a surprise for me.

When we got there a woman was chained to the ground and I could tell she was a werewolf. Kate was terrible to her, and then she- she- she bragged about killing your family, Derek, and about how Laura was supposed to die too. But she didn’t and then Kate saw her one day on the train to Buffalo and she attacked her and took her to that warehouse and whatever she did to her there had wolfsbane in it. Then Kate left me alone with Laura for a few minutes and I tried so hard to help her, I was gonna try to get her free I really was, but she said it was too late, and she told me to find you and what to say to you.

And then Kate came back and Laura lunged at me but I knew she was gonna do it and she had told me not to be afraid so I wasn’t but Kate shot her and she died and I didn’t know what to do but I couldn’t stay there with those- those MONSTERS! So I went to see Stiles because he’s my best friend and then we came here.” Allison was openly sobbing by the end of her tale and Stiles was holding her in a tight hug.

Derek had listened very carefully but not once had he heard the blip of her heartbeat indicating a lie. There were waves of emotion coming off of her, anger at her family, sadness and sorrow for Laura and Derek, burning hatred for her aunt. Derek knew his sister well enough to understand that she had seen something in Allison and in her final moments had told her who to call and where to go. She sent Allison to her pack, and Derek had no doubts that if Laura had lived, she would have brought Allison back to Beacon Hills to join the pack regardless. So Derek did what his sister would have wanted, he approached Allison slowly, like she was a wounded animal, and then gently wrapped his big arms around her and Stiles.

“You can stay here, if you want. For as long as you need. Laura is-was- a good judge of character. If she sent you her by telling you to get in touch with me, its probably because she wanted me to offer for you to join the pack. It’s small, even smaller, now, without her, but you’re welcome with us, both of you.” At Derek’s softly spoken yet sincere words, Allison started crying even harder, and the startled look that must have come over his face made Stiles snort before schooling his expression and mumbling a soft ‘thank you.’ After a few more minutes Stiles joked about his arms cramping from all the hugging and Allison choked out a laugh as she pulled away and used her sleeve to wipe her eyes.

            “If you’re sure it would be okay with your pack,” she stumbled a little over the word, like she was testing how it fit in her mouth, “then yes, I would like to stay with you. Even imagining what my family has done makes me sick, and that you would be so welcoming to me when you barely know me, I can’t- I just, thank you, Derek. I don’t know how I’ll ever repay you.”

            “You don’t owe me anything, you’re pack now, and pack takes care of each other. All I ask is that you take care of us as best you can, and we’ll do the same for you.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DESCRIPTION OF MILD VIOLENCE: When Derek catches Allison's scent he is reminded of Kate and he attacks Allison without thinking by choking her. He is distracted by Stiles immediately and Allison does not sustain serious injuries or hold the attack against Derek because she understands his reasoning.  
> Alriiiight lets talk. This fic is about character building for Allison as well as creating a sibling-type relationship between her and Derek. The main romantic pairing in this is Stiles/Derek (they're mates, okay, it's my second favorite trope ever) and Allison/Scott will be in the background. THE MOST IMPORTANT RELATIONSHIP IN THIS FIC IS THE BOND I WANT TO BUILD BETWEEN DEREK AND ALLISON and the feeling of family between everyone in the pack. 
> 
> In case ya'll were wondering, this fic was born from a fic with Derek as Allison's older brother that I cannot remember the title to and an anon message on tumblr where the sender gushed to me about how much they would love for Stiles and Allison to be siblings or best friends. IF YOU WERE THE ANON WHO SENT ME THAT PLEASE COME OFF ANON AND TALK TO ME ABOUT IT XOXO I LOVE YOU.  
> I love me some concrit, kudos and comments so feel free to leave them.  
> if you would like faster updates pleaseeee harass me on tumblr otherwise i will do nothing with this until im suddenly inspired by too little sleep and too much redbull about a month from now. (im kidding(not really))  
> you can find me at: mishapslikesinkingships.tumblr.com


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Derek and Stiles talk, Derek realizes something big, and Stiles meets someone important.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Howdy ya'll!   
> Sorry for the long break between updates, but it's finally summer and I'm off work for the next three days! The format for the rest of the fic is gonna change because Stiles and Allison are best friends but they don't spend every waking moment together and they both have very different things they're coping with in this fic. The new format is a Stiles Chapter, then an Allison Chapter, then a Stiles Chapter, etc. That being said, this chapter is heavy on the Stiles and ends with a major thing for him. Next chapter will be all about Allison and should be up on tuesday.  
> Also this was not beta'd and I'm exhausted so it's unedited.

“Hey big guy,” Derek cringed when he heard Stiles’ voice. After the talk with Allison in Derek’s living room, Derek had directed them to the guest room set up for Allison and while they walked up the stairs Derek heard Stiles mutter ‘the neck-sniffing incident.’ Knowing he wasn’t even close to ready to have the ‘mates’ talk with a veritable stranger, Derek went for a run. Two hours later, he walked back into the house hearing only one heartbeat. Derek hoped it belonged to Allison, but its erratic rhythm made him doubtful and the moment he entered the house he found Stiles’ lithe form sitting on the couch, phone in hand. A second after he saw him, Derek was once again hit with the powerful scent of _mates_ , which was even better now that it was mixing in with the smell of _pack_ permeating the couch.

            “Earth to Alpha,” Stiles was snapping his fingers in front of Derek’s face, and Derek was a little concerned he had zoned out so thoroughly that he’d missed Stiles standing up and walking toward him. 

            “Yeah, sorry, I was thinking,” Derek shook his head and followed Stiles into the kitchen, noting how comfortable he looked, like he belonged there, not like he had just arrived at the house a few hours previous. Derek liked the sight.

            “What are you thinking about,” Stiles asked, and Derek had to bite his tongue to stop the automatic _you_ that wanted to spill out. Instead, Derek deflected.

            “Where’s Allison?” Stiles rolled his eyes.

“You’re so obvious, just so you know,” Stiles smirked as Derek frowned at his words. Instead of elaborating or giving Derek a chance to respond, he said, “she went to the town, Isaac took her. He said he was one of your betas. That’s true, right? Oh god is he some crazy rogue werewolf? Is he gonna murder my best friend and then like, eat her or something?!”

“Isaac is my second, he’s a good kid, no he won’t hurt Allison, he could probably feel the pack lines form when she said she would stay.”

“Really? Even though she’s human? Sweet. Wait so does that mean Isaac knew I-“

“Stiles can you focus for a minute please? You were telling me why Allison went down to BH.”

“Oh yeah! She has to pull her money out of her college account and she didn’t know she could do it without her parents until Isaac told her how. She wants to have it all out before her dad notices she’s not answering his calls or staying at the hotel he booked in Pittsburgh.”

“But isn’t her dad just going to see that her latest withdrawal was from Beacon Hills if he checks her account? What if he comes here? As soon as he sees this town he’ll know I’m here and he’s going to think we kidnapped her or someth-“ Derek was starting to hyperventilate and Stiles was at his side in an instant.

“Hey, stop, it’s okay. Just breathe, Derek, you’re fine. No one is going to know we’re here, no one is going to come looking for us here, we have it all worked out, okay? Allison is safe now, you’re safe, I’m safe and your, no, _our_ pack is safe…” As Stiles continued to speak softly Derek stopped paying attention to his words and let the voice of his mate soothe him. The panic that had seized him at the thought of Argents finding them so soon after losing Laura was slowly ebbing away and as he came back to his senses he realized Stiles had his arms wrapped around Derek where they were leaning against the fridge. Derek took a moment to wrap his arms loosely around Stiles and put as much of his scent on the boy as he could before stepping away and clearing his throat.

“Um, thank you,” Derek gruffed out.

“No problem, man, it was just a mild anxiety attack. I get them all the time.” Stiles offered Derek a small smile before walking across the kitchen and going directly to the cabinet with the drinking glasses in it. Derek briefly wondered if Stiles had gone through all the cabinets while he was running or if it had been a lucky guess.

“Lucky guess,” Stiles said, grinning sheepishly before moving to the fridge and pressing the glass against the ice machine in the door. A second later he filled it with water and turned to hand it to Derek.

“What do you mean lucky guess?”

“Knowing where your glasses were, I didn’t want you to think I went through all your drawers and cabinets while the house was empty. I may not have many boundaries but I’m also not completely inconsiderate.” Derek carefully sipped the water and put the fact that Stiles had picked up on his thoughts so easily at the back of his mind in the box marked coincidence.

“How did you know I was having an anxiety attack? That’s never happened before. That shouldn’t even be possible, I’m a werewolf. And how did you make it stop?”           

“Anxiety is a mental thing, I’m pretty sure it isn’t covered by the whole werewolf super healing. I just told you the stuff I usually tell myself when I’m having one. I don’t usually have anyone to help me through them, so mine usually last a long time, but I was able to get you out of it pretty quickly. Drink your water.” Stiles gave him another soft smile and Derek drank the water. “We, Allison and I, have a friend from Pittsburgh, well he actually lives in Hawaii now, and he’s really ace with computers. I’m talking ‘hacked the CIA at 15.’ Like, I think he works for them now; either that or he was going to go to jail.

Anyway, I called him and he owed me a favor from the time I totally covered his ass in Finstock’s econ class and, anyway, he’s gonna change the info on Allie’s bank statements and make it look like the withdrawal happened in New York City. It should take her dad a while to realize she’s not actually there, and hopefully by then we’ll have a more solid plan. Danny also changed our names on the digital flight manifests and then had the false names added to another flight going from San Fran to NYC so we think all our tracks are covered.”

“Jesus, teenagers these days,” Derek mumbled.

“Please, you were a teenager, what, a year ago?”

“Try six years ago, smartass. I’m 25.” Derek enjoyed the look of surprise that crossed Stiles’ face.

“Oh, uh, you have a really young face, although, I can kind of see your six o’clock shadow and it’s only like noon. You should let your facial hair grow out, it would look good on you… I mean, if you want to look good to people who like facial hair or something, I don’t know, I’m gonna shut up now.”

“Wouldn’t that be a miracle. I don’t believe you’ve ever shut up in your life.” The hurtful words slipped out before Derek could even think about them and the look of sadness that flashed across Stiles’ face made him instantly regret them.

“Sorry you find the sound of my voice so offensive to your delicate werewolf ears,” Stiles tried to joke but Derek could smell the sadness and embarrassment floating off of him. The scent of his embarrassment was familiar for a second and his nose twitched as he tried to place it. “Oh what, do I smell bad, too?” Stiles scoffed in Derek’s direction as he pushed past him and went up the stairs. With him so close Derek was able to place the scent.

It was a memory of the BHPD picnic. Laura used to volunteer to patrol with the officers on Halloween and other busy nights throughout the year even though she was technically a park ranger for the preserve. Laura and Derek had been talking to the Sheriff about the upcoming re-election for his position when one of the other officers running against him approached. The man was new in town, he’d only been there for about a year, and most of the town was insulted that he was running against Sheriff Stilinski, who was well liked and had kept the town safe for over a decade.

“Hi there, Sheriff, trying to talk citizens into keeping you in office, I see.” Stilinski had tried to be courteous but his opponent wouldn’t let up, Derek remembered looking at the beer in the man’s hand with distaste. “I mean, can you really blame the town for wanting to vote you out as soon as any competition shows up? You couldn’t even manage to keep your crazy wife under control and she ran off with your kid!” Before Stilinski had time to react Laura had hauled the man forward by his shirt, her other arm pulled back, fist raised and ready to smash the man’s face in. Before she could release, the Sheriff but a hand on her arm and lowered it. He spoke directly to the man.

“My wife was ill, and I did every single thing I could to help her get better and keep our family together. She went off her meds and a week later picked our son up from school early and hitchhiked out of Beacon Hills. I searched for them for years, and I will continue to look for them, but you can bet that I won’t allow any of the good people in this town to suffer the way I did. I keep them and their families safe and I’ve done so for a long time. I have every intention of continuing to do so.”

The Sheriff had seemed so strong and confident, but Derek could smell the embarrassment oozing off of him and by the soft, sad look on Laura’s face, she could too. The scent he remembered was nearly identical to what he had just gotten from Stiles and suddenly an insane thought struck him. Derek launched himself up the stairs and after Stiles.

Derek barely knocked before opening the door, and he found Stiles clutching an old photo and sitting on the corner of the bed.  The sad look on his face turned to anger when he looked up at Derek.           

“You’re supposed to wait until I say come in after you knock, asshole.”

“What are you looking at,” Derek asked him.

“It’s my mom. All I have left of her. I told Allison I think she might have been from California originally.”

“Where is she now?”

“She died when I was a kid. She, uhm, she killed herself in a psych hospital. I guess when I was like five she kind of lost it and she took me away from wherever we lived. We traveled all over the place for a year or so, always with different people, always calling me different names. I don’t even remember my real name or where we came from. When we got to Pittsburgh she told me she loved me and walked in front of a bus.

She lived and they got her back on her meds but when they told her I had been put in foster care and she wasn’t allowed to see me she lost it again. She slit her wrists with a sharp piece of metal she pried off a rusted bathroom stall and died. She wouldn’t tell anyone my real name or hers, she always called me Stiles, so I became Stiles Smith and moved from family to family until I was 16 and landed with Sharon.

She had a too small house with too many kids and she wasn’t very nice, but she also wasn’t mean, she just didn’t care. I’ve stayed with her for the past two years.” Stiles voice was thick with emotion when he talked about his mother but he didn’t allow any tears to fall. Derek looked over his shoulder at the photo and gasped.

“I think you should come into town with me, Stiles. There’s someone you should meet.” Derek was careful not to put too much inflection into his tone but it was hard with the crazy thoughts swirling in his head. He gently tugged on Stiles’ arm until the boy stood up and moved toward the door. Stiles was looking at him with confusion but he must have seen the seriousness in Derek’s face because he went without question. Derek herded him downstairs, out the front door and into the camaro. Derek carefully drove them out of the preserve and into Beacon Hills, directly to the Sheriff’s station.

“What are we doing here, Derek?” It was the first thing Stiles had said since they left the house and Derek noticed he was glad when the boy spoke up, already far too used to the constant chatter.

“Like I said, I want you to meet someone. You don’t even have to talk to him, just meet him, okay?” Stiles nodded and followed Derek into the building. The desk officer, Tara, greeted him.

“Derek! We haven’t seen you or Laura in a while! How is she enjoying being back in New York?” Derek couldn’t breathe again and it was only Stiles warm hand on his shoulder that kept him together.

“I can’t talk right now, Tara, I- we really need to speak to the Sheriff.”

“He’s not back from lunch yet but he should be in the next few minutes, go on back and wait in his office, son.” Tara had picked up on the seriousness Derek was feeling and waved him and Stiles back with no more words. The duo walked into the Sheriff’s office and Derek held his breath while Stiles looked around, picking up the nameplate on the desk.

“Stilinski, huh, what a name. It sounds like it would be rare but I swear I’ve heard it somewhere before…” Stiles set the nameplate back down and wandered around the desk to look at the pictures on the desk. Derek was holding his breath. The sheriff had always made sure he and Laura were well cared for after the fire and he had spent a fair amount of time in this very office, looking at the very pictures Stiles was glancing at now. Suddenly Stiles head snapped to a slightly hidden frame and he reached toward it with a trembling hand.

“Derek, why does the sheriff have the same picture I have on his desk?” Stiles was looking at Derek with such a broken and lost expression, his mother smiling from the frame, a photo of a woman leaning against a blue jeep absolutely identical to the picture in Stiles’ wallet.

“Stiles, Sheriff Stilinski, I think he’s your-“ the door swung open and the Sheriff’s eyes locked on Derek, already talking.

“Sorry I’m late, son, some girl about had a heart attack when I was leaving the bank. She was with the Lahey boy, he said she was his cousin. She saw me getting into that old jeep of mine and kept going on about me being someone named Stiles’-“ the Sheriff’s eyes finally took in Stiles standing behind his desk, shaking violently and still clutching the frame.

“Dad?” Stiles voice wavered as he spoke, and Stilinski looked at him slowly before saying with absolute certainty,

“Genim! My son! My boy,” the Sheriff had tears in his eyes as he and Stiles ran around the desk to embrace each other. Stiles was openly crying and as Sheriff Stilinski hugged his son for the first time in twelve years a huge sob burst out of him.

“I didn’t remember, I didn’t remember, oh god, how could I not remember! They asked me who I was and where I was from and who my dad was a thousand times but I couldn’t remember! We moved so much dad I got confused, I'm so sorry, oh god I'm so sorry,” Stiles was sobbing and muttering a constant stream of apologies to his father while Sheriff Stilinski went back and forth from apologizing for not finding Stiles to promising forgiveness and reassuring the boy that it wasn’t his fault and that it was all going to be okay. Derek felt like he was intruding so he slipped out the door and closed it behind him. Tara was waiting to ask what was going on and when Derek whispered to her that he had found Genim and brought him to his father she wiped tears from her eyes and told him he had given the Sheriff the best gift a father could ever hope for and that his parents would be so proud of him.

Derek smiled and nodded at her, surprised to find moisture in his own eyes, and sat down at one of the empty desks to wait for the Sheriff and Stiles to call on him. His wolf was purring in his chest, ecstatic to have done something so good for his mate. Derek took out his phone and texted Isaac to bring Allison and meet him at the police station. The warmth in his chest felt incredible after days of cold emptiness without Laura and he knew wherever she was, she was happy that he had done this for the Sheriff.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What'd you think?! I know A LOT happens to Stiles in here and I'll probably slow the pacing down a little in later chapters but I can't stand to have Stiles and Sheriff Stilinski separated from each other.  
> Comments/kudos are love  
> tumblr: mishapslikesinkingships.tumblr.com

**Author's Note:**

> I had a sudden need for Derek and Allison having a sibling-like relationship, Stiles and Allison being best friends, found families, and maybe a little revenge thrown in at some point. this was born. Enjoy (:  
> ConCrit is always appreciated, comments and kudos are love  
> harass me on tumblr: mishapslikesinkingships.tumblr.com


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